Yesterday I talked about how going from Contingency recruitment to Retained/Exclusive takes a mindset shift…
A shift in the belief Recruiters have built up about what working on Contingency means for them and the client…
They often have the belief that Contingency is the best for the client, even if they can see how switching to Retained/Exclusive benefits them as the recruiter…
And because they’re ethical recruiters and want what’s best for the client, they think contingency is the way to go…
I respect that… In my view getting the best results for the client, as well as generating maximum profit for you as the business owner, are two things every ethical business should do simultaneously (remember this, it comes up later) …
But here’s the truth as I see it (you might want to consider adopting this belief too) …
Ready…
A lot of Recruiters that work on a contingency basis don’t give every job order 100% dedication (GASP)…
They work on the roles that are easiest to fill first… Hard to fill roles often get neglected, sometimes completely ignored and fall to the bottom of the pile…
This might not be true for YOU, but it will be true for most in the industry, and it will be true for most the consultants you employ…
And it actually makes sense for you as a business owner to work on tasks that are going to generate you the most revenue in the shortest amount of time, it makes sense for your consultants to do the same…
But when you do this, the client doesn’t actually get the full service and so doesn’t get the best possible results…
IF they had paid you a retainer up front or at least given you the job order on exclusive terms… from your point of view, you have committed to filling the role… And they’ve committed to your service…
They’ve given you the time to do your job properly and find the best possible candidate the market has to offer, without you having to worry about losing out because one of your competitors calls up and offers them a “hot candidate” …
They’re showing their loyalty to you, and you can show it back…
You can never really be loyal to a client who’s hired you on a contingency basis because if another client comes along, with a similar role but offers you it on retained terms… You drop the contingency client and spend all your energy on the client who has shown their trust in you… At least that’s what they’ve paid you to do, so if you don’t you’re doing them a disservice…
The only option you have if you want to be loyal to your first “client” (personally don’t get how you can call someone who hasn’t paid you yet a client) is to turn down the retainer and focus on the contingency role you were given first… But then you do yourself and your business a disservice because the retainer was guaranteed revenue…
(Remember: Maximum results and maximum profits simultaneously)
Also, a perhaps more likely scenario, if Recruiter is working on 5 contingency job orders, all for similar roles and they come across a top candidate (in a candidate short market), which client do they give that candidate to first? All of them? The ones who are paying you the most? The one who’s likely to make the decision faster?… Who knows?…
Whichever option you choose lacks loyalty and is going to lower the level of service at least one of the clients get…
You’re either showing top candidates to the competition of your clients (they don’t like it when you do this), or you’re holding top candidates back from a client that has hired you for that exact purpose (they don’t like this either)…
Paying a retainer ensures that the top candidate always goes to the client who has skin in the game…
Listen, I could talk about this until I’m blue in the face, I could give you a whole other list of reasons as to why switching from contingency to retained is the best option for both you AND the clients you work with…
But experience tells me I’m not going to be able to convince you of anything, it’s just a conclusion you’re going to have to come to yourself… I just hope it doesn’t take you too long. For your sake more than mine…
But if you’re there already, you KNOW that both you and your clients would be better off going down the retained route and you just want to know HOW to do it, click the link below and claim your FREE blueprint –
Get your blueprint here
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